The gas crisis finally hit Capitol Hill with full fury this week, and Senate Democrats have launched a plan that sounds ambitious: Take on Wall Street speculators, OPEC, price gougers and Big Oil.

Never mind that any Democratic legislation will have trouble busting through a Republican filibuster in the Senate. And anything that slips through this Congress is likely veto bait for President Bush.

But regardless of the legislative realities — not to mention the futility of promising short-term decreases in gas prices — Democrats have embraced a political opportunity. By proposing aggressive legislation that takes on the boogeymen of the oil tycoons and profiteering speculators, Democrats are trying to corner Republicans into choosing between a president who is chummy with the oil industry and a decidedly populist energy bill.

“We need to stop the speculation” that’s driving up oil prices, said Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who has been involved in discussions with Democratic leaders who debated energy policy at a closed-door lunch Tuesday. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) promised “short-term relief and long-term relief” and insisted that “Big Oil should pay” for any suspension of gas taxes.

The details are still being worked out, but Senate Democrats are considering the following ideas for an energy package that will be released by the end of this week:

Crack down on speculators. Levin says Democrats will push to close the so-called Enron loophole that allowed energy commodities trading to go unregulated. Levin says commodities speculation may account for up to 30 percent of oil’s current cost, and this measure would crack down on that. A similar provision is in the pending farm bill.

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Tax windfall profits. This is certainly a non-starter with Republicans, but taxing oil companies reporting record profits while gas tops $4 a gallon has a populist sound to it and may please the Democratic base.

Investigate price gouging. This provision has made appearances in past energy proposals, and Democrats say the federal government should be tougher in cracking down on gas stations that gouge consumers during a crisis. But the Federal Trade Commission has found little evidence of price gouging in recent investigations.

Stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This idea always gains traction during an oil price spike, because it would put 40,000 barrels a day into the supply line instead of diverting it to the underground reserves. But the impact would be anywhere between 5 cents and 24 cents a gallon, and it’s only a short-term fix.

While Republicans are united against any tax increases, the idea of taking a pause in filling the strategic reserve — a cavernous network of underground salt caverns beneath Louisiana and Texas — has divided Republicans.

On Tuesday, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and 15 other Republican senators wrote President Bush, asking him to issue an order halting the reserves. Yet Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) told reporters Tuesday he didn’t like the idea, because the reserve is designed for a national security emergency or an oil supply disruption. Bush also opposes the idea.

Republicans have dismissed most of the other Democratic ideas, yet the GOP has also resorted to some of its own time-honored oil proposals, such as drilling in Alaska and off the coasts of Florida and California. In fact, Bush on Tuesday called again for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, even though studies of that oil supply have shown that it would not produce significant oil — 1 million barrels a day — until 2025.

“Until we have some oil to compete with imported oil, we will not reduce the cost,” said Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), a longtime advocate of opening the north slope of ANWR to oil exploration.

GOP critics also say the Democratic ideas are too focused on punishing the industry rather than getting at the root problem of supply and demand.

“Democrats seem intent on having an energy discussion without actually talking about fuel supplies, domestic oil resources, alternative energy or refinery capacity,” said Ryan Loskarn, a spokesman for the Senate Republican Conference. “Two years ago, they promised an energy plan to lower gas prices, and today they’ve produced no plan and gas prices are skyrocketing.”

Democrats are positioning themselves on the offensive with the coming debate in the Senate, and if they don’t make progress, they will hurl the obstruction charge at Republicans.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday offered a hint at the Democratic charge if an energy bill stalls, saying Republicans are backing “the same failed energy policy that has brought record gas prices.”

“The House has also passed legislation to crack down on oil price gouging, hold OPEC accountable for oil price fixing and repeal subsidies for profit-rich Big Oil companies so that we can invest in a renewable energy future,” Pelosi said. “However, President Bush and most of his Republican allies in Congress have opposed these efforts.”